The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is planning to dissolve the boards of various federal agencies and parastatals in order to allocate key positions to loyal allies and supporters. However, implementing this plan may pose challenges as some of these positions have fixed terms.
Despite the potential difficulties, there are indications that the Presidency may have granted permission to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to dissolve and reconstitute the managements and boards of these agencies and parastatals.
ThisDay, a news outlet, reports that the government’s decision to dissolve the boards has already caught the attention of political lobbyists who are actively positioning themselves for appointments in the event of board dissolution.
Willie Bassey, the Director of Information at the OSGF, stated on Saturday that he was unaware of any such presidential approval when contacted by the aforementioned platform.
The dissolution of these boards is expected to enable President Bola Tinubu to shape the agenda of his administration according to his own preferences.
Some senior civil servants interviewed by ThisDay expressed the view that it would not be surprising for Tinubu to dissolve the boards of federal parastatals inherited from former President Muhammadu Buhari. The sources point out that Buhari also dissolved and appointed new heads for the governing boards of federal parastatals, agencies, and institutions.
During his final hours in office, Buhari constituted the boards of six aviation agencies that had been operating without boards for almost a decade. These agencies include the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and the newly established Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
However, the appointments made by Buhari were not confirmed as the ninth Senate failed to ratify them before its dissolution and the subsequent inauguration of a new government on May 29.